Rupert Murdoch Stepping Down as Chairman of Fox and News Corp.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as the chairman of his empire.
Fox Corp. and News Corp. said Thursday that Murdoch would step aside as chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp., effective as of the annual meetings for his companies in November.
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Lachlan Murdoch will continue to lead the two companies.
“On behalf of the Fox and News Corp boards of directors, leadership teams, and all the shareholders who have benefited from his hard work, I congratulate my father on his remarkable 70-year career,” said Lachlan Murdoch in a statement. “We thank him for his vision, his pioneering spirit, his steadfast determination, and the enduring legacy he leaves to the companies he founded and countless people he has impacted. We are grateful that he will serve as Chairman Emeritus and know he will continue to provide valued counsel to both companies.”
Lachlan Murdoch had already taken over much of the family business, serving as CEO of Fox Corp., and as co-chairman of News Corp.
In a letter to employees, Murdoch noted that both he and his companies are in “robust health.” However, he also said that he believes the “battle for freedom of speech and, ultimately, the freedom of thought, has never been more intense.”
“Self-serving bureaucracies are seeking to silence those who would question their provenance and purpose. Elites have open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class. Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth,” Murdoch wrote.
Murdoch inherited his father’s Australian newspaper company in 1952 and later expanded it globally, into a U.K. news business, and subsequently a U.S. newspaper business. News Corporation was established as the holding company as the number of acquisitions grew, including The Times in London, the Sunday Times, the New York Post and book publisher, Harper Collins.
In 1985, the company acquired the 20th Century Fox film studio, as well as a number of regional news stations, and then launched the Fox broadcast network in 1986 to become an entertainment giant. The Fox News Channel itself launched in 1996.
The empire expanded in 2007, when News Corporation acquired Dow Jones and its flagship publication, The Wall Street Journal.
In 2014, Murdoch established 21st Century Fox as a standalone media and entertainment company and News Corp. as a global media company. He sold the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox to Disney in a $71.3 billion deal completed in 2019 and then spun off Fox Corporation, including Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox News Channel, Fox Business, into its own publicly traded standalone company.
In October 2022, Murdoch had proposed recombining News Corp. and Fox Corp, but later withdrew his proposal in January, saying the deal was “not optimal for shareholders of News Corp and Fox at this time.”
Fox Corporation has been dealing with a number of controversies over the past year, including the ouster of Tucker Carlson in April and the defamation suit, and subsequent $787 million settlement, with Dominion Voting Systems after broadcasting falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election.
Rupert Murdoch’s full letter is below:
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to let you all know that I have decided to transition to the role of Chairman Emeritus at Fox and News. For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change. But the time is right for me to take on different roles, knowing that we have truly talented teams and a passionate, principled leader in Lachlan who will become sole Chairman of both companies.
Neither excessive pride nor false humility are admirable qualities. But I am truly proud of what we have achieved collectively through the decades, and I owe much to my colleagues, whose contributions to our success have sometimes been unseen outside the company but are deeply appreciated by me. Whether the truck drivers distributing our papers, the cleaners who toil when we have left the office, the assistants who support us or the skilled operators behind the cameras or the computer code, we would be less successful and have less positive impact on society without your day-after-day dedication.
Our companies are in robust health, as am I. Our opportunities far exceed our commercial challenges. We have every reason to be optimistic about the coming years – I certainly am, and plan to be here to participate in them. But the battle for the freedom of speech and, ultimately, the freedom of thought, has never been more intense.
My father firmly believed in freedom, and Lachlan is absolutely committed to the cause. Self- serving bureaucracies are seeking to silence those who would question their provenance and purpose. Elites have open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class. Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth.
In my new role, I can guarantee you that I will be involved every day in the contest of ideas. Our companies are communities, and I will be an active member of our community. I will be watching our broadcasts with a critical eye, reading our newspapers and websites and books with much interest, and reaching out to you with thoughts, ideas, and advice. When I visit your countries and companies, you can expect to see me in the office late on a Friday afternoon.
I look forward to seeing you wherever you work and whatever your responsibility. And I urge you to make the most of this great opportunity to improve the world we live in.
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